Iris
by SakiJPC
Summary: Hyūga Neji knew something was wrong the moment he opened monochrome eyes that were not his own. (Starts after Volume II, before Volume III) (Unsure if there will be pairings)
1. Silver Eyes

-Hyūga Neji-

Hyūga Neji blinked awake before the sun made its daily appearance in the sky, as was his habit. He rose, frowning at the uneasy creaking of his futon as he sat up. His eyes rapidly adjusted to the relatively gentle dark of the room, a lamp shining in from the other side of a glass window. Immediately, he was on high alert. He knew his sleeping quarters well, and this bed was not his own. Neji scanned the room for threats, finding something that, truth be told, frazzled the young genius.

The room was an absolute mess. Books and other detritus lay scattered across the room, scrolls and posters covering much of the walls. Across from his bed, two haphazardly stacked bed frames secured crudely with rope and books held the forms of two sleeping figures. Neji knew he wasn't restrained, so he began to remove himself from the bed. He frowned; his body wasn't moving properly, and he began fearing drugs or genjutsu. He brought his hands together.

"Kai!"

Neji nearly fell out of the bed, startled by the sound of his voice. It was… squeaky. Feminine. He took a closer look at his hands, noting how small they seemed. He slowly looked down at himself and froze. A cute image of a dog- or a wolf?- peeked up back at him, curving slightly over his…

Oh dear Kami. If Tenten ever found out about this… or that idiot Naruto…

Neji closed his eyes, attempting to clear his mind and focus his chakra, only to find something much more concerning than what he had just discovered, if that was even possible. His center had been thrown completely off. His chakra was in complete disarray, with two different energies flowing through him in different ways, taking similar but separate pathways. He frowned, unable to find a singular center to focus on. He opened his eyes as they pulsed, bringing forward his Byakugan for further scrutiny of the imbalance.

The two energies within him felt like chakra, moved like chakra. He could even manipulate them like chakra, but the energy did not appear the normal light blue to his Byakugan. Instead, a bright mass of swirling red appeared within the left of his… chest, with a dark blue residing deep in his stomach. Obviously, someone had manipulated the coils of this body into two separate cores, making the individual sections much weaker. He was unsure of how the chakra was divided, but to one as skilled as he, the energies simply had to be reincorporated into his core. Both cores blended in the same way and durned the same direction, so Neji simply began trying to reconcile the red energy into the blue chakra in his stomach. It was a slow and somewhat tiring process, so he closed his eyes and began to meditate. The red energy was reluctant at first to move, but he quickly began to feel more and more familiar with the chakra, slowly brightening the dark blue core and branches that made up his chakra system. Whoever manipulated this body's chakra must have done it over the course of several experiments or generations, as it was taking a Hyūga, a master of chakra manipulation, what will probably be several weeks of constant meditation to undo. If he was to find his way back to Kohonagakure and his team, he needed every possible advantage and resource. His chakra was a requirement to using the Gentle Fist, so he needed access to it once more. Neji settled into a meditative trance, muttering slightly to himself as he continued the arduous process.

He began squirming ten minutes into his meditation. He groaned as he realized what this feeling was and extracted himself from the bed, landing as quietly as his body allowed him to. He noted with satisfaction that he landed silently on bare feet. The sensor-nin was unfamiliar with the layout of the building he was in and the people inside, so he took this opportunity to look around with his Byakugan, noting the light throbbing behind his eyes as he observed the three sleeping forms in the room. All three were female, one in each bed. Each of them had different colored energies swirling within them, each over the heart and in the stomach like his was. He saw that one of the three forms looked to have an animal affinity or bloodline limit as she sported a pair of cat ears and a tail. He frowned, taking a closer look at the girl. Her chakra was a dark black contrasted with a fantastically bright blue, swirling slightly quicker than the others. He ignored the others. Neji began squirming again…

After a rather embarrassing bout of biological pressure playing cat-and-mouse with his modesty, Neji stepped gingerly from the restroom, blushing slightly. He had gotten a better look at himself in the mirror, looking forlornly at the short mess of dark, red-tipped hair his current body resided in. His eyes were an alien, but satisfying, color of silver. The girl he was in was a good ten centimeters shorter than Neji himself, with a body that suggested somewhere around sixteen, but small. His current body appeared to be trained somewhat, with lithe musculature built for speed, but not quite the requirements of a Konoha ninja her suspected age in terms of strength, or the specific muscles required to make optimal use of the Gentle Fist. With regular training, Neji was confident he could fix that. As he observed the room, he noted the access to books and the lack of heavy locks on the rather flimsy wooden doors, he came to the conclusion that he was not, in fact, a prisoner. Rather, he was in some sort of barracks or living quarters. It made him feel no better about the situation, but it did reassure him that he was safe to meditate. He sat on the floor at the foot of his bed, closed his eyes, and began to blend. OF course, a few hours into the meditation, Neji was thrown for a loop for the third time that night.

* _…ey…Hey! Can you hear me?*_

 _"Wh... what?"_ He muttered another quiet "Kai!"

 _*Hey, you can hear me!*_

 _"Who are you?"_ Neji tried to suppress his anger, as it probably was not this girl's intention to trap him here.

 _*I'm Ruby!... I think. I can't really do much other than see or talk…*_

Realization dawned on Neji as he placed his hands on his forehead. _"It looks like I am currently controlling your body…"_ There wasn't much else he could tell the poor girl. Whatever madman decided this was a worthy experiment needed to be put down. By him. After fixing it.

 _*Um… could you like, give it back?*_

 _"Unfortunately, it does not seem likely."_

 _*Right…*_

The girl… Ruby's tone of voice was so dejected, he could almost picture her face.

 _"I am trying to find a way to fix this, get back in my own body. Would you be willing to assist me?"_

 _*You're not doing this?*_

 _"No, no I'm not."_ Neji frowned. _"But if we are to find a solution, it must be together. The first course of action should be an exchange of information."_

 _*Um… sure. I'm Ruby Rose, fifteen years old…*_

It didn't take Neji long to find he was the polar opposite of this girl in almost every conceivable way. While they both led their respective squads, Ruby branded herself was a mid-distance fighter. It took no small amount of time explaining dust and aura to the Hyūga boy, but he took it in strides. Semblances were a bit more difficult. It seemed the standard speed of a body flicker required some sort of special skill for these people. Luckily, Ruby did have that skill.

What she didn't have, however, was a backbone. She was a tactical thinker and quick, but threw up major objections to killing or major harm of any kind. Given what she was fighting against, the creatures of Grimm and known criminals, it seemed almost childlike. And in the end, that would be Neji's primary way of describing his host. She was naive in the worst possible way, energetic, and somewhat unintelligent when it came to anything other than fighting. And even then, her combat knowledge only extended to her massive sniper-scythe, the Crescent Rose, and battlefield tactics. The more Neji learned about Ruby and her team, the more annoyed he got. And still, the more he sympathized with her position. Apparently considered a genius in combat and pushed forward at her academy, her immaturity in almost every other area gave Neji the impression of Rock Lee trying to lead a team: doing her best, but doing her best with determination alone, rather than determination combined with tact and a clear mind. Battle strategies were not good logistics plans, for example. One could not apply combat doctrine to a knife wound.

Of course, everything fell apart upon a passing reference to Atlas. Neji was then given a rather incomplete crash course on the geography and government of Remnant, and his plan, all at once, fell apart. If this place had never even heard of the Elemental Nations, then there was almost no hope of finding his way back on his own. There were no leads to how he ended up in Ruby's body, and getting her to abandon her squad was something that Neji could not bring himself to do. If she could not control her body, then it fell to Neji to lead her team, given her insistence that he do so. It pained him to hear her so downtrodden, unable to lead, or do much else than talk to him, for the foreseeable future. In any case, she understood his need to attempt to rebalance his chakra after a short explanation of his predicament. It seems she had no choice but to trust her body to the ninja.

In return, he told her about his capabilities as a ninja and a leader along with anything he could tell her about Konoha if he treated her as an allied warrior. She was duly impressed with his abilities, termed to ideas that she could understand. Sensing aura was a useful skill indeed, but that did bring up an interesting point.

 _*How do you still have your special Backu-whatever? Didn't you say it was in your eyes?*_

Neji realized that it was close to impossible that his doujutsu would follow him through the body transplant. _"That is an excellent question, Rose-san. I am unsure. The most obvious explanation given the lack of noticeable scarring, is that you may have the blood of a Hyūga."_ It was only after he said the words did they reveal themselves to be patently impossible. The odds of a person living in what seems to be an entirely different world having Hyūga blood, was absolutely zero. A much more likely idea was an extremely skilled surgeon transplanting it from...

" _Wait… the seal… my seal! Where…"_

It was nowhere to be found. Everything about this situation was completely wrong. Neji frowned, settling into a meditative trance once again.

 _*Hey, Neji! Neji? Ne…*_

* * *

-Team RWBY-

It was the longest stick they could find.

At eight thirty the next morning, Yang had duct taped together several brooms and was half-jokingly poking Ruby with it.

"Guys, I seriously think there's something wrong with Ruby." Yang looked with uncertainty at the frowning face of her little sister, Ruby's arms folded over her crossed legs.

Blake got up to meet her teammate at the foot of her bed. "I'm pretty sure she's meditating."

"I don't think so. She hasn't even twitched for almost twenty minutes. It's creeping me out." Yang turned slightly, making to poke Ruby with the stick again.

"Well, whatever it is she's doing, we're late." Weiss huffed as she lifted the broomstick out of the way and shook her partner's shoulder. "Come on, Ruby, time to get up. "

One eye slowly opened, the silver shining in the light. "Very well." She rose, moving rather smoothly compared to her normal jerky, rapid motions. She paused, her eyes closed. A soft blush spread over her face before scanning the room, pulling her uniform from the closet with what appeared to be some sort of fear. The rest of the team stared to stare as she began pulling off her shirt, only to stop and look around, noticing their presence for what seemed like the first time. She dashed instantly to the bathroom, and with another spreading blush, shut the door behind her. It took her only twenty seconds to step back out again. Ruby slowly moved to her desk, picking a few clean notebooks out from the mess, along with a few pencils and some of the throwing knives Blake kept to pin paper and other things to the cork board. A loose cotton shirt and pants were placed in the bag, as well as a cloth belt. Lastly, she pulled a strip of cloth from the pile of clothes and tied it around her forehead like a bandanna. She turned to shoulder a bag, placed the knives into her belt, and walked out the door. Not a word was spoken.

"Uh… Ruby?" Weiss was uncertain whether or not Ruby was all right. She was acting… different. It wasn't a _bad_ sort of different, but it still freaked out the rest of team RWBY pretty bad. No whistles, or cheers, or panicking, or anything of the sort. No loud noises early in the morning. It was nice, but disturbing all the same. It wasn't normal.

Ruby turned back to look at the rest of the team. "Let's go." It came out like some sort of polite order, jarring the rest of team RWBY out of their dumbfounded shock.

"Uh… right." Blake was the first to recover, moving towards the door to leave. Weiss and Yang followed shortly after.

* * *

Ruby herself was quiet throughout breakfast and the first few periods. Blake had gathered the rest of team RWBY after seeing their leader _take copious notes._

"Okay, what happened to her?"

Yang glanced at Blake, considering the question. "I have no clue. It's kind of scary."

"At least it seems like she finally decided to take this place seriously! I think it's a good thing." Weiss huffed. "At least she's not disruptive."

"The changes are way too drastic to be normal, unless this is a really good prank." Yang still looked uncomfortable. "It's totally working, by the way."

"We'll ask her at sparring class." Blake looked a bit wary. "I don't think she could keep it up for that long." The girls looked among themselves and nodded. Of course, they couldn't know that their now-even-more-fearless leader knew exactly where they were and what they were doing.

Team RWBY sat down as a team in combat class, three of them looking expectantly at their leader. She wasn't wearing her usual combat outfit. Rather, the loose pants and shirt from that morning made their appearance once again, hanging off of their owner with an almost limp looseness.

Blake spoke up. "Hey, Ruby?"

Ruby looked up from her meditative position. "Yes?" Her eyes gleamed with a strange sort of scrutiny that made Blake shrink back in her seat.

"Are you feeling alright? It's like you're acting-" Blake was interrupted by the sound of Professor Goodwitch calling out to the class.

"First match: Ruby Rose, Nora Valkyrie, please come down to the stage." The images and names of the two students appeared on the screen behind her.

Nora quickly made her way to the stage, wielding her very large hammer with one hand over her shoulder. Ruby narrowed her eyes with a small frown on her face.

Before any of them could react, she was on the stage, relaxed, surrounded by a swirl of rose petals. No one had even seen her move.

* * *

Hyūga Neji formed the seal of confrontation.

* * *

 **Sooooooo... how is it? Please tell me what's wrong with my grammar, characterization, anything! This is the first fanfic I've written, so I'm looking for criticism!  
**


	2. Body Flicker

-Hyūga Neji—

Hyūga Neji sank into stance. He glanced warily at his designated opponent. Nora Valkyrie wielded a rather unwieldy-looking hammer, the head covered in designs. He dared not underestimate the weapon itself, after hearing of the capabilities of Rose-san's own Crescent Rose, and as such assumed the worst. Regardless if it fired projectiles or was faster than the eye could follow, he needed to get inside the reach of the head of the hammer.

That suited Neji just fine, as his only weapons he brought onto the field were his hands and three thin knives. They were not kunai, but they could be wielded in a similar fashion. It would be all he needed, in any case. He was not confident in or willing to try using Crescent Rose, as he had no way of knowing if he could operate the hulking weapon correctly. It would be wiser to use weapons he already had training in. Neji fingered one of the knives carefully, shifting his stance to prepare a body flicker.  
Rose-san's Semblance, as she called it, was extremely quick movement, precise in short bursts. Neji was somewhat interested in seeing if he could leverage her speed for himself. As his body flicker to the stage had shown him, her body was ready to move at these speeds at any moment. Tapping into Rose-san's red chakra allowed him to do so with what he felt was ridiculous ease. It wasn't any sort of _shunshin_ he had seen before, and functioned in a fundamentally different fashion, so he decided to name it. The _Bara-Shunshin_ , Rose Body Flicker.

"Miss Rose?"

Neji turned to look at the blond instructor. "Is there a problem?" He lowered the knife to his belt.  
"Where is your weapon?" Professor Goodwitch frowned at the small knife he had been holding. Neji suspected she was expecting the oversized scythe that Rose-san normally carried.

"I have no need of it." Goodwitch continued to look with uncertainty at him, then turned back to the center.

"Very well. If you're sure, then so be it." She raised her riding crop. "Begin!"

While it was not wise to stall a fight under normal circumstances, Neji wanted to take advantage of this spar to see how the warriors of Remnant fought. It was better to learn now in a training session, he reasoned, than to try to read an unknown opponent in real combat. He also told himself to try to not use jutsu. He did not have a large enough 'normal' chakra pool to safely try any of his techniques other than the Byakugan itself. The Jūken was severely crippled with no familiar chakra to emit, so he decided to rely on the three knives he carried. He cocked a hand in a 'come on' gesture.

Nora was more than happy to oblige. She jumped from a crouching position in a faster than expected way and transitioned into a jumping swing. Of course, that made the attack horribly telegraphed, and Neji crouched, head raised, as she reached the apex of her jump. The hammer came down with tremendous force onto the reinforced stone floor, with Neji simply twisting to the right and taking a quick step in, activating his Byakugan. He began to observe the movement of his opponent as Nora swung her hammer in obviously practiced circles.

Obviously, a Hyūga had nothing to fear from such large and somewhat slow attacks, dodging and weaving around the head of the weapon. As he moved, accessing Rose-san's chakra became more comfortable and he began moving faster. He decided to see how his opponent reacted to offense, drawing one of the knives he placed in his belt earlier and making a few large, sweeping strokes.

White lines trailed after his slashes as Nora stood there with her hammer's pole held horizontally across her chest. Neji nearly tripped as he started to disengage when he saw her calmly take the blows, one cutting right across her chest armor and another down her exposed forearm. Valkyrie san was sliding backwards from his swings, grunting as she coasted to a stop and resuming her stance. Those cuts caused no damage at all, even against her exposed skin...

Nora charged in once again, Neji's shock allowing her to land a blow that he reflexively tried to simultaneously block with an arm and _kawarimi_ out of. Of course, his reaction tried to draw on a 'normal' chakra pool that was pitifully small, and a different, alien pool that was untested for use with this technique. He was blown to the side slightly as his guard came up and the failed _kawarimi_ produced a puff of smoke, sliding a few steps to the right. He immediately retaliated with the knife, trying to weave in and out of the hammer's reach.

However, Valkyrie would take every slash he sent at her with a smile and another swing of her hammer. This exchange happened over the course of several seconds, allowing Neji to analyze her fighting style. Nora had superb defense, blocking as much was permitted by her massive polearm. Any other hits Neji landed were shrugged off with only a loss of momentum to show for it. She was sharp, no doubt. And strong, with good reaction times. But her attacks were invariable, repetitive, and reckless. She would never be able to land a hit on someone who was prepared…

Neji took the time in his thoughts as he dodged and weaved to wonder at the speed he was achieving. Many ninja didn't bother learning body flicker techniques other than the bare minimum. There have only been a handful of ninja able to use the technique consistently in battle, making their movements so unpredictable they were nigh untouchable. The most famous would probably be the Fourth Hokage. Ruby, however, seemed to handle it with ridiculous ease.

Neji dodged another hammer blow that impacted the ground to his left. He was already planning his next movements as he expected his opponent to reset her stance, when an explosion knocked his feet out from under him.

"Gah!" Neji quickly recovered and got to his feet. If that device could produce explosions, then he would be forced to give it a wider berth in the future. However, the information he had gathered from watching how Nora fought and descriptions of Rose-san's capability was enough to get a general idea of their combat philosophy. Many of their attacks were heavy and high damage. However, they were slow and easy to take advantage of if they missed. They fought with a sort of flashy brutality that made every blow extremely dangerous, if they could land them at all and the opponent's defense was insufficient.

He could see the logic in their doctrine, given their main enemies were barely sentient Grimm that did not plan extensively or devise individual combat styles on their own. Human opponents were probably all as hard to injure as Nora, as Neji was sure he should have broken his arm from the blow he took at the minimum. Instead, he merely slid. This meant that counter attacks and feints should have been common in sparring or real combat between two humans, but it seemed not to be the case. Neji concluded that the ridiculous size of the weapons disallowed for efficient capitalization of mistakes, and individual blows didn't matter as much as a battle of attrition formed instead of an instant disable. Ordinarily, this made taking every hit that one could safely take more efficient overall than exhausting chakra and effort trying to dodge every hit.

However…

"I hope this works…" Neji narrowed his eyes. He whipped the knife at his opponent as he leapt back. Nora easily deflected his toss with a spin of her hammer as Neji's stance shifted from a classic knife fighting stance to the Jūken. There seemed to be twice the _tenketsu_ in these split chakra systems, so he had to choose his targets carefully. The fact that these people had _tenketsu_ in the normal places was no guarantee this would work, but he felt obligated to try. Rose-san's dark chakra flowed into his hands as he prepared.

"Eight Trigrams. Two Palms." Neji started a Semblance-fueled Bara-Shunshin and two consecutive hand strikes to the pink tenketsu in the girl's exposed left leg. He whirled behind her while channeling Ruby's Semblance as Nora stumbled at the sudden force, her Aura flashing brightly at the blows. However, Neji stopped there, quickly stepping back a few paces and assuming a defensive position.

 _"What was that?"_ Neji saw that the tenketsu he had aimed for were completely unaffected. However, the area around Nora's leg contained significantly less of the dark chakra than before, slowly refilling from her reserves. _"A defensive sheathe of Chakra? The defense is not absolute or untouchable by any means. But its passive nature makes it much more reliable. I suppose that blows not made to her tenketsu deal significantly less damage to her chakra."_ A glance at the bars on the board agreed with him, his two strikes dealing significantly more to shrink the bar labeled 'Aura' than any of his earlier slashes. _"In that case…"_

As he prepared to re-engage, Nora had retreated to the other end of the arena. Her hammer was now a smaller, bulky tube with an opening at the end. Neji was immediately wary of her distance. If a close-mid range fighter disengaged like that, they probably had a ranged option on the table. A flurry of grenades came flying out of Nora's weapon, tumbling as they fell towards Neji. Several were overshot as to land behind him and cover his retreat. Of course, attacks like that could never hope to hit a Hyūga, especially one as fast as Neji was now. As soon as he confirmed the path of the grenades, long before they would detonate, he body flickered forward.

"Four palms. Eight palms." Arms and legs were quickly dispatched. Several blows to the cores, and Nora fell, much of her darker chakra drained. Neji waited for her to rise, and when she didn't, Neji found himself surprised. All that should have done was exhaust her chakra. Even chakra exhaustion should have left her weak, but standing. Regardless, in the idea of Beacon being a combat academy, the Seal of Reconciliation was formed.

"That's the match." Professor Goodwitch did not look happy. "If you would please return to the locker room and…" She looked down at Nora, "…recover while the next match commences?" Neji turned to see Nora begin to stir. He held out a hand and she grabbed it, stumbling to a standing position.

Neji did his best to smile at her. "That was well done." She nodded, still somewhat weak.

-Team RWBY-

"Okay… what was that?" Weiss stopped clapping along with the rest of the crowd.

The three other members of Team RWBY watched as Ruby led Nora off of the stage as Yang gestured with her thumb. "… She just beat Nora with three knives and a couple punches."

Blake shook her head. "Those weren't punches." She stuck one of her hands out flat, her thumb bent to the side and tucked in. "Those looked like palm strikes." Yang leaned in and tilted her head as Blake made a few striking motions in the air.

"Huh. That's different. Can't really use that myself." She shook her Ember Celica.

"It looked quite potent." Blake nodded. "She was moving well. But that wasn't anything close to her normal style."

"Shouldn't you know all of this already, Yang?" Weiss looked somewhat nonplussed, glancing back and forth between her two team members in confusion. "You are related to her, after all. She couldn't have learned that sort of fighting in secret."

"Nope… huh." Yang looked around the room. "I guess she wouldn't have had any time for that." She turned towards the stage, ready to go find her sister.

Blake glanced at the locker room next to the stage floor, where Emerald was busy wiping the floor with Sky. "Maybe asking right now isn't a good idea."

"What?" Weiss narrowed her eyes. "Why?"

"She seems… intense. Like she… something bad happened." Blake turned to Yang expectantly.

Yang spoke up uneasily. "…her mom died. We usually visit the grave around this time. I don't think that's it though."

"Why not? Sounds as likely as any other reason we have right now."

"She never gets like that, though... I mean-"

Yang was cut off by Ruby approaching them, still wearing the bandanna, but with a black shirt and loose pants instead of the light grey she was wearing earlier. She still had a somewhat serious face on as she pulled out a notebook and began drawing in it. Of course, this greatly relieved the rest of Team RWBY. Their leader was back to sketching as usual even with the most terrifying face they had ever seen from her up close.

This relief only lasted until the fourth match was nearly over, and Blake was returning to her seat. At this point, Ruby had a very accurate outline of a human body shaped distinctly like Nora. Nodes and lines ran throughout the drawing.

"Ruby?"

Ruby looked up at Blake. "Yes?" The calm on Ruby's face was getting her teammate very nervous.

"What is that?" The drawing was far above what Ruby's known art skills were.

"Ah." Ruby turned back to her notebook. "Just a diagram. For reference."

"…okay…" Blake declined to say any more. None of RWBY spoke to their leader for the rest of the period. Whatever Ruby's issue was, it could hopefully wait for a better plan of action.

-Hyūga Neji-

 _*Hey, Neji?*  
_  
 _"Hello, Rose-san."_ Neji was sitting on his bed, meditating. Ruby was only able to talk to him when he was quiet enough to hear, it seemed.

 _*Good! You're there. It gets kinda lonely just watching.*_

 _"I can only imagine."_ Neji nodded internally.

 _*Soooo… what was that?! That thing you did back at sparring class! It was amazing!*_

 _"That was the Jūken. It is how I fight. It is how the Hyūga Clan fights."_

 _*That's… so… cool! You were all Whatcha! Whichou! Whachow!*_

Neji could imagine her arms flailing wildly. Despite himself, he chuckled. _"It is a bit more complicated than that, Rose-san."_ Neji spent the next few minutes with Ruby explaining how he executed the attacks. He felt that as it was her body that he was using, it was fair to tell her how her body was being handled. He knew the odds of the young girl spilling the secrets of the Hyūga clan would be completely irrelevant, as he was sure that his chances of returning to Konohagakure were shrinking with every revelation. Not that it mattered.

 _"However…"_ Neji paused. Was it his place to ask? He flexed his fingers _. "Your body seems well adjusted to the Jūken, despite my initial judgement. Why is that? How do you train?"  
_  
Neji found Ruby's training regime surprising, to say the least. Almost every bit of time she spent training was used to increase her dexterity and speed, as to stay in perfect control of her ridiculous weapon as she moved as quickly as she could, which was very quick indeed. The precise yet flowing movements of the Jūken were similar enough for her body to handle.

With circular movement and kata meant to never stop or lose momentum, precise movement and conservation of momentum was a large part of the Jūken style. Despite being encumbered with a polearm, Ruby already understood many of the principles behind momentum and the basics of Jūken as he explained them. Neji was surprised at this, largely due to the defensive nature that he presumed was part of their overall style and the oversized weapon she normally wielded.

They spent the next thirty minutes discussing the events of the day, with Ruby chastising Neji with much flailing at his stoic behavior. He was forced to apologize at one point, simply from how forceful his… host had become. Incurring Ruby's ire was not something he wished upon himself.

 _*Where are we, anyway?*  
_  
Neji looked at his surroundings. At one point he must have fallen asleep, as he was no longer simply sitting with his eyes closed on a bed in the dormitory. He was seated on a futon inside what appeared to be the Hyūga compound. Sitting in front of him was Ruby Rose, the same body he had been using for the past day, wearing Hyūga white and grey clothing.

Apart from her dark red hair, she could have easily passed for a main branch Hyūga, including the blank eyes and veins of the Byakugan. Although, most Hyūga would not have the same expression of wonder or freedom of movement that Ruby Rose did. He glanced down at his once again normal, male body, a lock of long black hair falling over his shoulder.

 _"It appears this is the Hyūga Compound, although I do not know why we came here."_

 _*I guess this is your mind, right?*_

 _"Yes, I would presume so."_

 _*Does that make those people there like, your family?*  
_  
Neji's head was already turning as she gestured, seeing several Hyūga members going through Jūken kata, though their faces were blurred and hard to focus on. They seemed to not notice him as he rose, walking to the open screen door and observing the members of the main house follow the lead of a senior member. Ruby followed him to the grounds, watching the forms closely.

 _*So this is Jūken?*_ Ruby seemed fascinated by the simple forms that were being demonstrated. She was roaming around, weaving and observing the Hyūga as they performed the kata. Neji nodded in satisfaction at the amazement and appreciation radiating off of the girl. _*It's different when you look at it from here, instead of, um… watching your body do it.*_ She looked a bit nervous, frowning while still looking encouraging _.*Would it be rude if I tried to, you know, copy them?*  
_  
As he was about to refuse, Neji paused. They could not interact with the people here at all, as evidenced by Rose-san literally passing through one of the students. The girl did have the Byakugan, which made her able to use Jūken with maximum efficiency. In the end, her pleading face won the day and he nodded.

Ruby immediately tried to follow along, and so fell instantly onto her back as the kata was in transition from one point to another. Neji could not hide his brief flash of contempt, standing up and sternly correcting her form. Ruby apologized sheepishly, allowing the older boy to help her.

Neji himself was surprised at his actions. This girl had bounds of natural talent, he knew. He could feel it as she began the next form. Her graduation accelerated by two years, surely she was a genius. And yet, he held no contempt for her mistakes, even as she made them in the simplest of forms of Jūken. She was trying to become strong, for herself and for her team. In the end, he could not fault her for wanting to grow as strong as she could.

Despite his genius, he was always humbled by Uzumaki Naruto. He was set free. As he softly rubbed at his forehead, Neji turned his gaze to the girl in front of him, watching and correcting her with his words as she attempted the katas shown by the instructor. Even as she focused, Neji noted the looseness of her stance, the way she smiled when she did something right, how she laughed when she failed. Ruby Rose was already free.

She was, until he came and trapped her in this cage.

Plenty of sunlight can shine through bars.

Hyūga Neji knew, even in this dream world where nothing that existed was real, why it hurt when she smiled at him.


	3. Crushing Mountains

-Hyūga Neji-

"Hey."

It was four in the morning, Neji noted. Far earlier than he expected anyone to be awake. The day before, none were awake before six thirty. He had risen for mental exercises and chakra capacity training not an hour ago.

"Yes, Bel- Blake?" Neji opened one eye. Blake's eyes gleamed in the night, almost glowing yellow. It was almost unnerving, like being watched by a cat. Surprisingly appropriate, all things considered.

"Who are you?" Neji took a calming breath. It was to be expected. He knew that Rose-san acted nothing like he did, fought nothing like he did, although the timing and method of confrontation was rather unexpected. He assumed Yang was the one to expose and ask about her 'sister's' rather obvious changes.

"I am unsure of-"

"There." Blake interrupted him. "That right there. Ruby doesn't talk like that." He permitted one of Blake's knives its desired place at the base of his neck. "Who are you? Where's Ruby?" He felt the blade there, a dull pressure slightly lower than where he would hold a blade to another's throat.

"Release me."

The blade shifted higher. "No."

 _Good. That's good._

"Very well." He spoke out loud. He debated briefly breaking the girl's hold on her weapon and turning, but decided Rose-san would be firmly against her teammate losing use of her hand for a few weeks. He tried to find something that would get the cat girl to back off on her own. He contemplated the edge of the knife in lieu of his navel. The blade was short compared to the massive weapons wielded by Rose-san and Nora.

From what Rose-san had told of her teammates, and the rather traditional grip and shape of the blade, that Blake would be considerably more dexterous with her weapon. Ruby had explained to him that she wielded her own sword, Gambol Shroud, either in an edged sheath or unsheathed with blades in both hands.

She fought with the gun-embedded blade on a ribbon that allowed her to swing it in fast, sweeping circles. It made her flexible and quick, with a much less predictable weapon. All good things. Fortunately, the knife was not Gambol Shroud. Unfortunately, ninja more skilled than him have been killed by less than the knife Blake held. He also noticed the rather… aggressive posture she held, with her arms wrapped around his torso. He shuddered in her grip, suddenly uncomfortable.

The blade moved away from his neck, and he felt himself being turned around. The rather sharp tip rested on his collarbone. It seemed she was getting impatient. "Explain yourself. Who are you supposed to be?"

"That is… difficult to explain."

"How hard is it to tell me who you are?" She pressed the knife into him a little more.

"I… I think this might take some time. Could we meet somewhere else?"

Blake pulled Neji up off the bed. "There's some study carrels upstairs. Come on."

They slowly got the door open and escaped to the study room.

"Okay, we're here." Blake was seated in one of the chairs, with her back to the door. Neji sat on the ground in front of her. "What could you possibly say that would require privacy like this?"

Neji thought on the situation he was in. These people were a little too trusting, it seemed. Neji himself would never allow an unknown to get someone alone like Blake had. It was bad form and potentially deadly to the ninja and the mission. He took a long, drawn out breath. "I am Ruby Rose. At the same time, I am not Ruby Rose."

Blake actually was slightly stunned, freezing in place. "What?"

Neji gave his best berating look. "I did tell you it would be difficult to explain."

"Uh… right." The throwing knife twirled in her grip.

"The body is Ruby Rose. The mind is not." Blake gave him an owlish blink. He took it as a sign to continue. "I woke up the day before looking like this."

"That seems… unlikely at best."

Deep breaths, Neji. You need to make sure this is explained properly.

Neji looked idly at the bow hiding the girl's ears. "I currently am controlling the body of Ruby Rose. Her mind is… contained within mine." He shifted in his seat. "When I meditate, we can communicate. When I sleep, we meet within dreams. It is a rather unique experience."

Blake began fidgeting. "That's… ugh. I have no clue how to respond to that. There's a part of me that wants to attack you outright." Her bow shifted slightly. "But if you're telling the truth, then I just stabbed my leader…" She fingered the knife in her hand, twirling it between her fingers. She was getting really twitchy. "I can't really do much right now other than believe you."

That went much better than expected. Neji rose to bow.

"Thank you for hearing me out, Belladonna-san."

She nodded back to him. "So, how do we tell the rest of the team? Yang won't take it well, probably. Weiss might not believe you either."

"Could we try to avoid that for as long as possible? I do not wish to fracture the team."

Blake shook her head, somewhat exasperated. "They've already noticed, you know."

"Then why only you? Why is the entire team not here?" It was a thought that crossed his mind several times throughout the meeting.

"They're trying to give you space. I think that they assumed something tragic happened recently."

He snorted in contempt. "That should not stop them. The team is to share the burdens of daily life together."

Blake was staring at him, curiosity and a small amount of amusement evident from her body language. Hyūga Neji did not miss much. "What?" Her look was somewhat unsettling.

Blake started slightly in her chair. "It's just… so strange to see that expression on your face."

Neji thought back to what he knew about Ruby. Impersonation was a skill that every ninja learned, whether from the academy or from their sensei... He had to resist slamming his face into the bed post as he pictured his contemporaries, especially the loud and obnoxious Naruto and his own teammate, Lee.

He tried to do his best impression of the girl. She was somewhat naive, and rather quick to come to conclusions, Happy and positive thoughts and an animated expression. Word structure was informal without being a clearly uneducated person. Civilian when not engaged in battle… "I dunno." His eyes shone with thought as he tilted his head slightly to the left. "I guess it would be kinda creepy, huh." He wriggled his fingers and squinted a bit. "It's not like it's a big deal." Every motion was painstakingly calculated. It was a difficult impersonation, but doable.

At one point, as part of his stealth training, he was forced to convince another ninja that he was Lee under a _henge_. That experience was far more taxing than the bubbly personality of his host. "I can't really see myself like, I dunno, doing it forever or anything. It's kinda hard." He sagged in his chair. "I'd slip up eventually and it would be really bad." He relaxed his posture as Blake stared at him. "I doubt you would be comfortable with my acting for extended periods of time, knowing that it is not really your leader."

Blake was blinking. "Well, you're not wrong." She glanced to the side briefly. "Why do you need to keep the situation secret anyway?"

"To be perfectly honest, I have no reason." Neji admitted, muttering into his chest for perhaps two seconds before whipping his head back up and straightening suspiciously.

"I simply do not wish to completely destroy the workings of this team. As my sensei would tell us, unity is one of the most important virtues that a squad on a mission can have." His hands twitched.

Blake shuffled in her chair. "I just don't see the point. Weiss and Yang would be reasonable. You could have told them too."

"Then why did you confront me alone?"

Blake made to lean in slightly, causing Neji to scoot back a little. She spent a moment to think and slapped her hand to her face, realizing what she had done. "I got impatient. The others wouldn't be very coherent this time of day. We can talk to them tonight." She shrugged. "Maybe there wasn't a reason at all."

Neji snorted in contempt. "It seems this meeting has decayed into complete foolishness." He paused to glance at her. "Thank you, Belladonna-san."

He could tell every sentence exchanged between the two made her more and more confused. "For what?"

Instead of elaborating, he moved towards the door. "We should be getting back. It may be early, but we made some noise moving around."

"Uh…" Blake glanced at him. "What's your name? I don't think I can call you Ruby in my head."

He supposed he should use the local naming conventions, despite his reservations. "Call me Neji." Blake nodded again, and they made their way back to the room. They sat on their respective beds, Blake peering at Neji as he meditated, her eyes shining. Of course, he did not miss her peering at him from across the room.

Neji took to the slow, mentally taxing task of creating chakra. With a full day of using and experimenting with the energy that Rose-san used allowed his process to accelerate, if only by a small amount. The feeling of Blake-san's eyes on him was making it hard to concentrate. It gave him chills. He did his best to calm himself, hoping that the process of mixing energies within himself would calm himself to her presence.

Blake perked slightly. "Hey, Ru- Neji." Neji instinctively frowned at her use of his name, before remembering not ten minutes earlier that he had asked her to do so.

"Yes?" He glanced at her, noting her ears in the bow twitching slightly.

"When we were walking back, you didn't make noise as you moved."

Neji noted that they tended to nod to each other, signs of agreement without making sounds of positive or negative intent. "That was a part of my training. Silent movement is always superior, as one can choose to make noise."

"Training?" Blake's eyes narrowed. She crossed the room in order to speak quietly. "What sort of training?"

Neji gestured towards the sleeping team members, stirring as the sun began to shine strongly in the windows. "Perhaps I will tell you another time. It seems," He rose to make his way towards the restroom, gathering a few small items as he crossed the room, kicking a box of Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes back under his bed. "That it is time for the day to begin."

Blake gestured towards the closet. "You should probably wear Ruby's combat outfit today."

Neji frowned. The combat clothing of the kunoichi he knew were already ridiculous, but the Hunters of Remnant blew them out of the water. Skirts that short and corsets did not look comfortable at all. Granted, the Hunters moved well, but still… "Why? I do not think the cloth would permit movement very well." He crossed the room to poke at the black and red corset.

 _"Or, for that matter, what little dignity I have left as a Hyūga. I am already wearing 'proper undergarments'…"_

Blake gestured outside. "Professor Port is taking us on a hunt. We're headed down to Forever Fall." She turned back to her desk. "You should probably use the restroom now. I can wait."

The other two members of RWBY were stirring awake. Neji turned to the door. "Thank you."

"Sure. It will all work out, Neji."

Weiss was yawning. "What will?" Her tone was somewhat searching, even when she was still in the weakening grasps of sleep.

He decided to do his best impression of Ruby, hoping to alleviate even the smallest amount of suspicion. He was confident that he could do it, given Blake's reaction.

"N-nothing. Nothing! Everything's already fine! I'm gonna… go real quick." He dashed across the room, fully waking the other two occupants of the dorm.

"Well, Ruby seems better." Yang remarked.

Blake slumped back onto her bed. "Sure. Better."

-Ozpin-

Ozpin moved his finger across the screen, rewinding the video for the third time. The sparring session from the day before danced across his vision, the young Valkyrie swinging ineffectively at the leader of Team RWBY. Glynda was sitting to his left, watching the recording with him.

She placed a hand on the desk. "I'm not sure what to make of this." She said, staring intently at the spar. "This is completely unprecedented."

"Indeed." Ozpin sipped from his coffee cup, his other hand resting on the cane lying on his desk. "It seems Miss Rose has been hiding some rather interesting skills." There was a ding coming from the elevator door. "Come in. Please."

Nora Valkyrie poked her head into the room, stepping out quickly afterwards as the doors began to close. "You wanted to see me, sir?" Her cheer was rather refreshing, to say the least.

"Yes. Miss Valkyrie, what did you think of the spar you had with Miss Rose?"

"Oh, that? That was actually really cool." Nora was smiling, noting through the clear panel the footage on his monitor. "Oh, is that the recording?"

"Yes it is. Please, tell me what you thought of Miss Rose. Was she acting differently yesterday, apart from the obvious?" Ozpin gestured to the screen.

"Uhhh, yeah, kinda." Nora mused for a bit, looking down at her shoes. "She was really quiet for most of the day, actually. She seemed all moody."

"I see." Ozpin folded his hands on the desk. "Tell me about how you felt during the match. Specifically," he gestured to the screen at the flashes of Aura that appeared when Ruby struck her in the legs. "What sensation did you feel when you were hit here?"

Nora shuddered. "That wasn't fun at all." She shook one of her legs and stood on the other, her knee bending a little. "It felt all cold and numb, like when you sat on it for a while or something. Kinda freaky. Oh! And her eyes got all white, too. I think. I couldn't really tell, but I think so! That was freaky, too."

"'Freaky' is right." Ozpin nodded. "Thank you for your time, Miss Valkyrie."

"No problem, boss!" Nora gave a snappy salute and made her exit.

Ozpin sighed into his hands. "In the end, it's a good thing Miss Rose has… acquired new skills. Still, it does leave me wondering..." He turned back to the screen, dialing a number. "Qrow, I need you to assist me with something. It involves Miss Rose."

-Hyūga Neji-

Forever Fall was a beautiful forest. A large group of first-years led by Professor Port made their way to a clearing, all of them armed with their signature weaponry. It was an interesting trend, at least to Neji. Unique weaponry for each person made a fighting discipline, as he was used to, impractical and rather useless unless the generations passed down their weapons.

Regardless, Crescent Rose was strapped to his back as his skirt swung uncomfortably in the breeze. He knew the weapon existed, and he knew enough about the function of the weapon from his talk last night with Ruby, but he was still hesitant to even try using it.

He had tried once before, of course. He could operate the rifle portion just fine: point at the enemy and pull a trigger. Reload with one of the several cartridges that lined the belt that went with the outfit. Simple stuff. There was even a switch on the side of the weapon that shifted the rifle into the deadly scythe that Ruby was so fond of. Unfortunately for the both of them, he couldn't wield the scythe worth anything. So for now, it was a decoration swaying on his hips.

Professor Port stopped in the middle of a clearing as the cry of Grimm rang in the distance. "Alright, students. This excursion is rather simple: Clear a circle in a five mile radius in this area of Grimm. The gathered teams here should be more than sufficient to do so to a satisfactory degree." The three stated teams stood by Neji's team. A team led by a blond Hunter with what appeared to be a straight sword hung towards the back of the group. Another team of all males stood to one side, the brown-haired leader looking smug and confident. He frowned. Hopefully he could remain relatively isolated in this exercise. "If you get in over your heads, retreat and contact me with your Scroll. I will be there as quick as possible." He let out a belly laugh. "Now, go! You have until sundown!"

The teams scattered amongst the clearing, each headed in a different direction. Neji's team headed to the northwest, away from the cries of the Grimm heard earlier that day.

-Blake Belladonna-

Blake threw a sidelong glance at the pace that Ruby- no, Neji was setting. It was slower than Ruby's top speed for sure, but it was still faster than the normal pace that the team moved at. Neji was moving through the trees, not even noticing when she left small imprints on tree limbs as her feet flashed with Aura. It took Weiss a glyph every few meters to keep up from the uneven ground. Blake herself was jumping through the trees in a similar manner to Neji herself, while Yang was charging over the uneven ground, kicking off of trees and rocks with reckless abandon.

When Neji stopped suddenly, feet seemingly glued to her branch, it took the rest of the team a few meters to slow down safely. Weiss and Blake simply turned back, wincing as Yang crashed into a tree. "…No point in stealth now. Large Grimm, fifty meters forward." A very distracting flurry of foliage and sound straight ahead caused the team to ready their weapons, apart from Neji, who left Crescent Rose strapped to her back. Instead, she placed her hands to her temples. An almost audible groan escaped her lips. "Snakes…"

The constant rustle of brush came to a halt as the King Taijitu came crashing through trees and brush alike. The twin heads hissed in unison, their gazes spreading over the team. Neji's face set. "Weiss, Yang. Confront the heads, keep them distracted. Disable or kill if possible, not a priority. Blake, get on the body. Cut it up as much as you can." Her voice was loud enough to carry, but calmer than Ruby's panicked or enthusiastic orders. Like a field officer rather than a Hunter team leader. "Make sure to stay out of the way of the others. Again, disable is the priority. I will be going ahead. There are more coming."

"Got it!" Yang nodded affirmative. Weiss had Myrtenaster drawn and glowing.

"Not a problem." She shot forward on a glyph, reaching the black head before Yang could get within striking distance of the white one. She slashed at the open mouth of the snake, scoring grooves on the fangs and membrane of the mouth. The head bit at her, the immense striking power apparent as the fangs buried themselves into the tree limb that was shoved in its path. Several strikes to the eyes found the snake head blinded, so Weiss busied herself with scoring lines across the Taijitu's hide, failing to make more than cosmetic damage to the thick scales.

Meanwhile, Yang was having a blast punching the now-fangless Taijitu head in the nose with her left arm over and over again. "Come on!"

Blake leapt across the large trunk of the snake, slashing at the gaps in the scales. One particularly hard swing got Gambol Shroud stuck in between two scales, wrenching it out of her hand. It flailed into the brush, forcing her to leap off the Taijitu and run to go get her weapon back.

Of course, her focus wasn't the best at the moment. It was entirely unexpected when the barrel of the King Taijitu rammed her in the back, knocking her into the same spot her weapon was. Grabbing her weapon, she looked up sharply as the forest shuddered and a fierce wind blew through the area. Turning and seeing that the King Taijitu was occupied with her teammates, she called out to them. "I'm going to go help Ruby!"

Yang gave her a thumbs up. "Gotcha! We got this one!"

With that, Blake dashed barely fifty meters before finding what appeared to be Ruby fighting a second King Taijitu. Or at least, what was once a King Taijitu. A flash of color. Red, black, white, all blinding.

 _"Hakke Hasangeki!"_

After all, twenty felled trees, a pile of rubble, and a cloud of dissolving smoke did not a Grimm make.

-Tsunade-

The Godaime Hokage was sitting at a table. Under normal circumstances, this really wouldn't be an issue. She really didn't like the people at the table, but it would normally be of no consequence. But under these circumstances, Tsunade would rather be anywhere else, drinking her pain away.

At the head of the table sat the Hokage, of course. Sitting to the left was Shizune, taking notes on the meeting. Sitting to her right…

A hand slammed onto the table. "Hokage-sama, something must be done." Hyūga Hiashi demanded. The Godaime idly wondered why that was. A genius Hyūga Neji might have been, but he was a branch member of the Hyūga clan. While the change was quite welcome, it was still unusual from the stern clan head that Hiashi once was.

She nodded to the man, the attendant scribbling notes. "I understand, Hiashi-san. I really do." She snorted. "But what more could I provide you other than permission?" She shifted in his seat, one hand moving towards a small flask she kept under the desk. Shizune slapped her hand away. "The Hyūga are already the most powerful sensors in the Leaf, and many others are willing to help you of their own free will. Searching for Neji-kun is best done by your clan. If you wish, I can give you one other. Shinobi, any you wish."

Glaring at Shizune, Tsunade turned back to the now disapproving Hiashi. "If I could grant you the sensory abilities of the Nidaime, I would." It was a costly gift, access to a Jōnin of the clan's choosing. But Tsunade would gladly give that much to Hiashi, especially when he showed such concern for his branch family. And also to get him out of her hair for a few days.

"Thank you, Hokage-sama." Hiashi bowed his head. "If I may have your assistance."

Tsunade smiled tightly. "Of course. Do not worry, Hiashi-san. We will find your nephew in time." She made to pick up the flask, looking at Shizune as her hand was stepped on before it could grasp the container. "However, you know we cannot devote much more than we have, or even for much longer." She meaningfully placed the crystal ball on its pillow. "If I may?" Learning the Telescoping Technique was a rather large boon that Tsunade would be abusing much more than the Sandaime.

"Of course, Hokage-sama."

Hiashi was sitting tightly, rising with a slowness that revealed weakness due to lack of sleep. He turned to the door. The Godaime only heard the last of the words that Hiashi said as he left. "-cannot fail you again, Hizashi. I will not."

"Tōmegane no Jutsu." The ball shone with a misty light. Inside the ball, red leaves spread over a forest, rapidly moving under Tsunade's watchful eye. A figure dressed in black and red moved quickly through the forest. Tsunade finally got her hands on the damn flask, sipping it while rubbing her head. That was a rather feminine outfit. The figure stopped. She looked up, her black and red hair sweeping across a serious face. A rather large scythe swirled behind her.

The dull shine of the Byakugan gleamed in the crystal ball.


	4. Back to the Future

A/N: Hey, look what I found. I lost my beta so it's a bit rough.

Omake? -Back to the Future

Uzumaki Naruto sprung up out of the ground, striking Hyūga Neji under the chin. The young boy's body sailed across the arena, landing sharply. The light flickered out of his eyes. Naruto stood alone on the battlefield, breathing heavily. Up in the stands, there were gasps of shock and awe. Sakura had a smile on her face, and Shikamaru was glancing at Gai, who happened to be fist pumping the air and crying at the same time. The other genin were all suitably shocked.

The proctor bent over the young boy's form. "It seems that Hyūga Neji is unable to batt-"

-Ruby Rose-

Ruby awoke in pain. How long had it been since she last felt pain like this? It hurt, but it was new. It felt like an eternity. The pain coursing through her veins felt different. Fresh. Like she was looking through a screen door, and suddenly the mesh fell away and she could see clearly.

 _'Am I… awake?'_ She glanced down at her body, beaten and bruised. The familiar colors of the Hyūga uniform hung below her. Long, black hair spread in a fan, the small strap of a hair tie lay snapped to the side. She focused, felling her chakra nearly exhausted. _'I need to move.'_ She focused. Pressure built behind her eyes, and she let her power flow. " _Reikigan._ "

A river of energy cascaded through her body. She felt it leaking from her eyes, coursing through her network. It was a familiar sensation, one that Neji had let her experience many times before. It was her first time, however, wielding this power for herself. She slammed one hand into the ground, bringing with it a rush of silver energy. It popped sharply, resulting in a weary, wobbling stance. _'Whoever did this, they really did a number on me.'_ The Byakugan was still active, and she deactivated it then. Across from her, a boy wearing a pleasing shade of orange stood, his hands limp at his side. Nearby, a man in a bandana and flak jacket stood, staring between the two. This was a spar? Her voice came put crackly. It made sense, she supposed. She hadn't used them in a long time. "It was you?"

Naruto grimaced. "What?" He retook a stance. She could see the chakra flowing through him, in two colors like hers. It made her smile. "Got anything more to say?" The darker chakra was flowing now, healing his wounds in the same way that her Aura was healing her.

Genma nodded. "Continue." He backed away.

"Are we… fighting?" She started tapping her jacket. She knew Neji didn't fight with Crescent Rose very much, but it would have been nice to have. Even having Sparrow with her would have been better than what she had on her. Instead, she found a kunai pouch strapped to her leg, with shuriken opposite. She pulled one out, holding it in a reverse grip, mirroring a stance she had seen Yang use before, one that she was glad to have learned. She was never brilliant at kickboxing, but she was never just a punching bag. After all, everyone else in the family was pretty incredible at the art. It would make no sense for Ruby to not pick some up on the way. In the same vein, Neji had instructed her in the use of Jūken, though she wasn't confident in using the Hyūga family style. After all, this was the first time she was able to feel her muscles in a while. She began bouncing, making sure her limbs were all working right.

"Did you hit your head? Of course we are!" Naruto winced a little as he reset his stance. Ruby frowned. Whatever this dream, or hallucination, or reincarnation, whatever was, it was refreshing. She remembered the name Naruto, only in passing reference to 'obnoxious' and 'orange'. It seems he fit the bill. She gave him a grin, throwing a shadow punch out, testing her body.

Up in the stands, Shikamaru was scanning the newly reawakened Neji. "Hmm? What's this, Gai-sensei? I wouldn't think that the Hyūga prodigy would stoop so low as to learn the Gōken from his sensei."

Gai was frowning at his student, who was now smirking slightly as Naruto failed to launch an assault. "He did not."

"What?" Sakura asked. "How does he know your style then?"

Shikamaru was analyzing the young Hyūga. "He's very light on his feet. He's bouncing on the balls of his heels, you see that?" At Sakura's nod, he continued. "He's always ready to move, but never far from his opponent. It's like he wants to stay close and personal with Naruto. Given their states…" He trailed off.

Gai shook his head. "That stance is very particular. It is a 'lopsided' from of Gōken, with a heavy emphasis on closed fist strikes. Like boxing." He pointed. "He can kick just fine, but that stance is always punch ready, even when moving. It is slower on the ground than other forms, but it is hard to find holes in a diligent defense. If he has learned that style of Gōken, he did not learn it from me. Regardless!" He suddenly shouted. "Neji!" Both combatants turned to look at him. "It is good that the flames of youth shine brightly through your determination! Show young Naruto the power of your youth!" He struck a pose. Shikamaru started to complain about Gai-sensei's ridiculous exclamations interrupting the matches.

He face-faulted, as did everyone else from Konoha, when Neji gave an enthusiastic "Yes, sir!"

He was gone in a blur of rose petals.

-Ruby Rose-

Cross. It was strange. One of the only thoughts she had Ruby had of the situation was that her hair was too long. Other than that, it reminded her of what Neji had told her of his experience arriving in Remnant. ' _I guess it was my turn, huh? Hopefully Neji will be there when I fall asleep.'_

Naruto spun, the impact reaching his left shoulder. His guard came up barely too late, the hit landing solidly. Petals swirled. Neji's advice resounded in Ruby's ears. _'You can relax when the mission is complete.'_

Cross. Block, block. Straight. An afterimage came forward. She dodged around it, letting her shuffle carry the blade of the kunai through it as she threw another cross at Naruto.

The other shoulder, this time blocked by a forearm. The fist was deflected, and Ruby sped away. _*An opponent is not to be underestimated.*_

Straight. Reset. Roundhouse. Shuffle, straight. Block left. Hook.

This one was aimed at the face. Naruto's guard came up, the blow sending him sliding back a few feet in the sand. He landed on one knee as Ruby resumed her bouncing. _*I was defeated, before. An obnoxious, orange ninja. He had a foolish dream, clinging to it like a drowning man in an ocean. He showed me something important that day.*_

She rushed forward. A fist tightened as it swooped low, ready to make contact near Naruto's face. * _Uzumaki Naruto was going to be Hokage. And there was little I, nor fate, could do to stop him.*_

Naruto lay spread across the dirt, in a similar position to Ruby's own not two minutes before. And, just like Ruby did, Naruto rose slowly to his feet, only to fall to all fours. The orange chakra was spiraling up, covering the quickly dwindling glow of blue. Ruby's eyes widened. "You were holding back. Not good." She flashed forward. Two big hits. A knee to the face, two clasped hands slammed down on his head, one carrying the metal butt of the kunai. Silver and red power hardened the strike, her hands channeling the energy across the pommel. " _Kajiya."_ The ground cracked beneath her as the silver energy slammed down in a hardened blow. She nearly screamed, however, seeing the boy's skull cave slightly, even from a somewhat weak blow. _'What the heck? Lie-san has tanked that before no problem!'_ Naruto fell to the dirt. His orange chakra was swirling, now focused on healing the damage. She could see the damage already starting to heal.

Ruby turned to Genma with a nervous glance. "I think I got 'em, teach." Neji's voice rang out.

Naruto made no move to rise, unlike the last time. Genma nodded in approval. "Hn. Okay. The winner is Hyūga Neji!"

Ruby made her way back to the stands, mostly healthy. Her Aura/chakra dōjutsu hybrid-thing that Neji was apparently too lazy to name and just called chakra was somewhat depleted, but there was always more. Part of her was glad that Neji understood dōjutsu so well, otherwise she would probably end up spilling the energy everywhere. Since it was a new dōjutsu, Neji had decided to name it Reikigan. Apparently there was some sort of naming convention. She snorted. Apparently it worked like any other _Kekkai Genkai_ , inherited from her mother.

A man wearing green was there to meet her. "Neji!" He was crying.

She blinked at the man's outstretched arms. "Uh…" She stood stiff as a board as he wrapped himself around her. "Uh…"

A younger boy, this time wearing a mesh shirt and a ponytail, came over and beat Mr. Bowl-cut over the head with a book. "Gai-sensei, let Hyūga-san rest. He has another match coming soon."

' _Ah, so this is a tournament, then. Okay.'_ She found an empty chair and sat, looking down at the next combatant ready to fight.

"Ah, I forfeit." A boy wearing face paint called from the stands.

The proctor snorted. "Okay. The match is forfeited. Aburame Shino moves on. Next is Nara Shikamaru against Temari."

A girl with a large bar across her back landed in the arena. Shikamaru sighed. "Maybe I should just forfeit…"

Ruby frowned. _*Nara Shikamaru, Team 10, was a tactical genius. He was the first to make Chūnin among our peers. He was lazy, rude, and inconsiderate, but his skill was undeniable.* 'Well, it helps that he's cute.'_

"Hey." Shikamaru turned to look at her. "Get down there. You're fine." She gestured down at the arena.

Shikamaru glanced at the kunoichi on the field, clearly weirded out. "Gah. No time like the present. Mendokuse." He sprung down from his perch.

Genma glanced between the two combatants, standing at the ready. "All right. You know the rules by now. Begin!" All three ninja leapt backwards.

Ruby watched the Nara signature technique in awe. Temari's giant fan was remarkably powerful as well. It was fascinating seeing the combatants switch from super exotic, gigantic attacks of destruction and relatively slow hand-to-hand combat. Nobody was blocking blades, only dodging or getting cut. Just watching the spectacle was fascinating to her.

Eventually, Shikamaru managed to connect his shadow to the end of Temari's. Since Shikamaru was already holding a kunai, he dove forward and threw the knife, Temari mimicking the motion with an empty hand. In the same instant, he cut the connection between his shadow and Temari's, the kunai now buried in her right shoulder. As she landed, the blade buried itself into her sliding body, coming to rest next to Shikamaru, who sprung to his feet. As she pulled the blade out, he teetered a bit, and ended up sitting on top of her.

Six seconds or so passed, with Temari unable to lift herself up with Shikamaru sitting on her back. "Okay. Winner, Nara Shikamaru."

Ruby was cheering along with the rest of the crowd.

A/N: I couldn't think straight for a while, and I had a brief flash of inspiration. Right now, most of my time is taken up by another project, but here is something. Lots of stuff is unexplained due to perspectives, but man, Shikamaru, no matter how smart you are, you were an idiot. I fixed it with a little bit of shock. Also. Evil laughter hahaha not regular updates inspiration is a bitch etc. etc.


	5. Panic

Panic  
-Blake Belladonna-

Rocks fell from the pile of rubble, shifting as it settled into a stable formation. The remains of the King Taijitu were already wisps in the wind, with Neji standing in the massive clearing gouged out of the forest. Looking around, there were several trenches in the ground, signs that Neji's destructive technique was most likely used more than once. Neji herself was staring straight ahead. Her hands moved to her forehead.

"Neji?" Blake called out to the other girl. "What's wrong?"

Neji turned back to face Blake. Her eyes were blank, a lighter shade of pale than what was normal. Veins pulsed around her eyes, throbbing slightly. Her face was even paler, drenched in sweat. She was taking slow, drawn-out breaths, clearly exhausted. "Nothing. More incoming." Neji leaped to a tree, several of the lower branches stripped away by the massive gusts of wind. Braced against a thick fork, she brought out Crescent Rose. Neji brought the rifle up to her shoulder, peering down the sight at a spot on the ground chosen seemingly at random. "Fifty, maybe sixty Beowolves." She gestured back. "Weiss and Yang are coming back now. Be ready to engage." She shifted, the branches rustling on the tree. Her legs hung off the branch, making it look like she was sitting on a chair as she sighted to the south.

"That's… we need to get out. I'm calling Port." Blake retreated up the same tree. "You can't fight right now."

Neji pushed away some of her hair. "I shall be fine."

Weiss and Yang arrived behind, the same way that Blake had come. "Alright, big snakey is dead. What's next?" Yang circled one of her shoulders, popping it.

"More hostiles. Be ready." The rustling of leaves signaled the first of the Beowolves approaching. Yang seemed a bit taken aback by her 'sister' giving such a clipped order, but she still chose to reload.

"Ruby," Blake glanced at the rest of her team. "You aren't ok. We need to get out." She pulled out her Scroll, preparing to dial Professor Port.

"I'm gonna agree with Blake on this one." Yang gestured up at her sister. "You're not looking to good, Rubes."

Blake stared at Neji's scrunched up, unsatisfied face. " _What could she possibly be concerned over?"_

"Fine." Neji jumped down from the tree, landing somewhat heavily on one side. She stood anyway and holstered Crescent Rose. "Call for the Professor. We will retreat to a safe distance and hold until reinforcements have arrived."

Weiss and Yang looked to each other. For the first time since they met in the clearing, Weiss spoke up. "Ruby is definitely _not_ okay." As a group, they made their way back towards the meeting point. Blake held her scroll up.

"Professor, we're retreating. There's a large group of Beowolves to the north of the rendezvous. Possibly fifty or more. No one was injured, but Ruby is too exhausted to continue."

"I see." Port's voice came up muffled, with the sounds of rustling leaves around it. "Retreat for now. I'm a bit…" He grunted, and the sound of his blunderbuss firing drowned out the next word. "-right now. Get to the rendezvous. The Bullhead will be ready. JNPR is already there, all eight of you need to hold that position. There's an-" _FWOOM_ "-of Grimm in the area. We'll be right there."

Blake reported to the rest of the team, and turned to Neji, who was currently leaning on a tree for support. Neji looked to the rest of the team. Blake spoke up. "We need to get to the extraction zone. Yang, can you carry Ruby?" She then had to speak over Neji's tired objections. "We need to get out as quickly as possible."

Yang scooped up her tired sister like a sack of flour and turned to the direction they came from. "Well, let's go!" She set off at a jogging pace, carrying a tired and resigned Neji in a bridal carry. Weiss, still unusually quiet, followed behind with Blake.

At the extraction zone, fighting had already started. A few brave Grimm approached team JNPR who were currently bunkered in the Bullhead. Ren seemed tired, leaning against one of the Bullhead's walls, with the rest of the team fanned out around him. All four weren't in the best shape. Jaune rammed his shield into a Beowolf, sending it stumbling backwards. He moved to cut the Grimm in two, but Nora was already in motion, Manghild sending the Beowolf into several others. Yang ran to the Bullhead and set Neji down inside of it, even as Blake herself moved to intercept a rather large Boarbatusk that was charging towards the ship. Ren, seemingly feeling better, lurched forward in a spin to cut at the mask of another Grimm.

The next two minutes were a blur of slashes and blocks, each of the seven capable students destroying the steady stream of Grimm. Blake was thankful for the choking circumference of trees preventing the truly massive swarm of Grimm from overwhelming their position too quickly. The defenders were backing slowly into the ship even as Professor Port and Team CRDL moved in from the other direction. Sky dragged Cardin into the Bullhead and came running back out, the three members of CRDL helping to push back against the waves. Russel Thrush was standing on the Bullhead itself, slapping down Grimm from destroying the ship.

-Hyūga Neji-

He could feel his chakra's strained flow through his system. "Damn." Neji was loathe to admit it, but he was in no fighting condition right now. "I need a lighter weapon." Keeping up with the Grimm, who had no _tenketsu_ whatsoever, was foolhardy for him. His fighting style was made to fight humans, after all. "And some soldier pills."

Next to him, Cardin glanced sideways at his fellow casualty. "What was that, anyways?" Cardin rolled over to get his back pressed against the wall. He began unclasping his armored chest piece. Neji noticed large gashes in the armor itself and the dark stains in his shirt. "That many Grimm in Forever Fall? Something's messed up out there." There was only one flange left on his mace, the rest in a pile beside him.

Neji nodded as Cardin pulled a toolbox out of a floor hatch. The sounds of hammering filled the room, the sharpness of the impacts a stark contrast to the muffled gunfire outside. "I wonder what the cause would be. Conflict of some kind?"  
"The White Fang." Cardin replied. "I wouldn't be surprised. Bunch of terrorist rats."

"Perhaps." They said nothing else. Neji listened to the sound of Cardin's hammering as he drifted into a meditative state. Maybe he could convince Ruby to help him make something that was smaller than his entire body. And yet, he had the feeling it would also, somehow, be a gun.

AN: I forgot to post this to the FF version, whoops. I'm writing again, so expect something soon.


End file.
